CPU criteria

[johnny]

Hello

what do I need to consider to replace my CPU ?

I currently have a Q6600 2.4GHZ.I have replace my PSU in anticipation of upgrading videao card but the CPU seems feasable and worth doing.

Imagine I want to get an i7 860, what needs to feed this in terms of RAM etc.

thanks for a few pointers

Johnny 

[Taph]

hi,

Your current CPU is using an lga 775 socket on your motherboard, the i7 860 uses an lga 1156 so you would need to upgrade your motherboard

something like an GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD5 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard or equivalent

the P55 motherboard uses DDR 3 memory

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model GU34GB2133C9DC, or similar.

You do not state in your post what type of memory your current mother board is using or operating system this will determine how much you will need to give you a balanced system

[johnny]

ok I see, thankyou, not straight forward then.

ut I guess I could stick with the same range using 775 socket and get  a more powerfull CPU?

I have 3Gb memory

[johnny]

is it worth going from a Q6600 2.4GHZ to a Q9650 3GHZ, could add another 2GB memory if it helps, but is it likely to improve my FSX performance?

[Wolter van der Spoel]

Hi Johnny,

if you upgrade to a 9650 it for sure will bring an improvement also I would opt for at least 6 or better 8 Gig of RAM, depending on your current MoBo if that can swallow it and wich OS you going to use W7 Ultimate 64 bit would be the one I can recommend, also interresting to know is wich type of RAM you have installed at the moment DDR2 or DDR3 ? depending on this you can tweak with your FSB to 1600 MHz so that brings also something and for the VidCard if you can go for the GTX 285 2 Gb version, that should set you up pretty nicely for a wee while to come.

[johnny]

thanks guys

It's amazing, a couple of enquiries, a few searches based on a couple of things said here and there, knowing that sockets are important, knowing what's possible and what's worth it, you can get to grips with things quite quickly.

I was thinking of the gx275, but what is the significant of the video card spec, for example if it's 512, 1Gb or 2Gb. Is the dominant feature the fact that it is gx285, 275 etc?

[Wolter van der Spoel]

Hi Johnny,

the 285 is the faster and higher clocked card and the more memory on the card the better the overall performance cuase it than can better handle the large texture load with fsX

[Ian Routley]

It's a price-performance thing, Johnny.  The GTX285 is a better card, but it depends on how it fits into your budget.

With regard to more memory - you are better running 4gb, 6gb or 8 gb of DDR2 9ie multiples of 2).  There is no benefit to you running >4g if you are running a 32bit version of Windows (any version)

Whether you go for a Top of the Line LGA775 processor, or a new platform really depends on what shape / how fast your motherboard is, and how old.

I considered upgrading my 775-socket board about 1 year ago, and didn;t - which is a good thing - because the board has now had an unforseen catastrophic failure ... and I would have been very cross.

[johnny]

I didn't know until getting feedback here that 32bit was limited to 4gb. As I am on vista 32 I guess I could always upgrade to 4 from 3.

well at least sticking with a 775 socket doesn't mean a dead end exactly, I think in the new year I'll go for a Q9650 and a new card, perhaps best pick of gx285, if I have learned anything here that should give me some extra performance even if not revolutionary, I'd be happy with +5fps to be honest, mustn't get greedy, otherwise will never be happy.

[alainneedle1]

I didn't know until getting feedback here that 32bit was limited to 4gb. As I am on vista 32 I guess I could always upgrade to 4 from 3.

well at least sticking with a 775 socket doesn't mean a dead end exactly, I think in the new year I'll go for a Q9650 and a new card, perhaps best pick of gx285, if I have learned anything here that should give me some extra performance even if not revolutionary, I'd be happy with +5fps to be honest, mustn't get greedy, otherwise will never be happy.

32-bit will see only 3GB unless you tweak the ini.  64-bit OS is the way to go for FSX.

You CPU will not overclocked as high with 8GB of ram as with 4GB (to much stress on the mobo) assuming you'll overclock.

Q9650 for socket 775 is the best bang for the buck as of now. The GTX 285 is the best card for FSX depending of the core clock the shader and memory clock, the higher the better.